Mr. Fuller's situation is one which comes within the meaning of section 1411-6 (c), which provides that "The Price Administrator may, upon proper showing of diligence, grant a reasonable extension of time for filing applications for compensatory adjustment," and if I may do so on behalf of Stone & Cooper Coal Co., this is an application for an extension of time for filing.

While in the case of large companies who are making similar applications for compensatory adjustment a request for an extension of time would undoubtedly have been made prior to the expiration of the normal time for filing; however, in the case of small companies, such as this one, such formalities may be overlooked, either through ignorance or because the managers or owners are in the position that Stone & Cooper Coal Co. is in today. There is nothing in the regulations which prohibits an extension of time even though the request is made after the lapse of the normal period for filing them. I think that if there were ever a case deserving of your sympathetic consideration this case is one.

The average coal yard in the past few years, even if it had its normal complement of help, has been an unusually busy place. The dealer has had a constant struggle to get enough merchandise to sell; he has been besieged by personal and telephone calls, by prospective customers trying to secure coal. Due to SFAW regulations and requirements his work has been multiplied. Instead of putting coal out in normal delivery units he has been compelled, either by lack of supply or by solid-fuel restrictions, to put out his coal in small units, making many more transactions to be executed than would be the case with normal conditions. Mr. Fuller's situation, all alone in his coal yard, can well be imagined; there simply has not been enough time in the workday to do all of the things that must be done. For these reasons we believe that Stone & Cooper Coal Co. have exercised due diligence in their efforts to get their applications for compensatory adjustment in on time, and in spite of their diligence they have been unable to do so.

We should like very much to have your office grant to Stone & Cooper Coal Co. such an extension of time as will permit them to refile all of the applications covering receipts from May 1942 through February 1944.

I should be happy to hear from you at your earliest convenience.

Yours very truly,

Copy for Mr. Fuller.

J. L. JOHNSON, President.

Copy for Mr. Holmes.

DEAR MR. HOLMES: This is the best I can do. Frankly, I am not very optimistic, but let's see what develops.

Yours very truly,

1st Session

No. 485

CONSTRUCTION OF A BRIDGE ACROSS THE RIO GRANDE AT OR NEAR DEL RIO, TEX.

APRIL 27, 1949.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed

Mr. BURLESON, from the Committee on Foreign Affairs, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 1360

The Committee on Foreign Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 1360) to extend the times for commencing and completing the construction of a free bridge across the Rio Grande at or near Del Rio, Tex., having considered the same, report favorably and unanimously thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.

This bill proposes to amend section 2 of the act of August 2, 1946 (Public Law 609, 79th Cong.), which authorized construction of a bridge across the Rio Grande at or near Del Rio, Tex., by extending the time within which construction will be commenced and the time within which it may be completed. This extension is required since necessary arrangements with Mexico have not yet been completed, making it impossible to construct the bridge within the time limitations in the original act.

The view of the Department of State on this bill was set forth in a letter of April 18, 1949. to the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs

The original bill, H. R. 6406, now Public Law 609, Seventy-ninth Congress, approved August 2. 1946. was favorably commented on by the Depart

ment.

The Department perceives no objection to the approval of this legislation under reference.

The Secretary of the Army also reported in a letter of April 15, 1949, to the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs that this matter had been coordinated among the Departments and Boards in the National Military Establishment, in accordance with procedures prescribed by the Secretary of Defense, and that he knew of no objection to the favorable consideration of H. R. 1360

H. Repts., 81-1, vol. 3-3

In accordance with clause 2a of Rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, there is included in this report the text of section 2 of the bill authorizing construction of a bridge across the Rio Grande at or near Del Rio, Tex., the repealed wording being shown by inclusion within heavy brackets and the new language shown in italics, as follows:

SEC. 2. The authority granted herein for construction of the bridge shall cease and be null and void unless the actual construction be commenced within [three] five years and completed within [five] seven years from [the date of the passage of this Act] August 2, 1946, unless otherwise authorized by the Congress of the United States.

TRANSFER OF TITLE TO CERTAIN GOVERNMENT-OWNED FACILITIES FOR INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING

APRIL 27, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. MANSFIELD, from the Committee on Foreign Affairs, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 2282]

The Committee on Foreign Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 2282) to make certain Government-owned facilities available for international broadcasting in the furtherance of authorized programs of the Department of State, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably and unanimously thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.

The purpose of the bill is simply to eliminate four unnecessary transactions related to the operation of three broadcasting stations of the Voice of America. The legislation was urged by the Secretary of State in a letter to the Speaker of January 10, 1949.

One of the stations is in Ohio. The other two are in California. The sites were acquired and the structures built by the Defense Plant Corporation in 1943 and 1944. Title is held by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (which concurs in the instant proposal). The Columbia Broadcasting System, operator of the stations under contract with the Department of State, pays an annual rental of $125,000 to the RFC. This charge is passed on to the Department of State by CBS as an item in its contract. So long as this arrangement is continued, the item must be covered by appropriations.

Vesting title to the property in the Department of State will take the property off the RFC books, eliminate the rental charge against CBS, simplify the CBS contract with the Department of State, and do away with a superfluous budget item.

There will be no loss to the Government in this legislation. The saving will be the minor one involved in simplifying the books.

In anticipation of this legislation, the Department of State did not include the rental item in its budget request for fiscal year 1950. It is desirable, therefore, that this bill be enacted before June 30, 1949.